My first accident in 39 yrs...

I work with a guy who did just that....car crossed over into his lane, and he moved as far over as he could without leaving his lane. There was no shoulder on the road he was on, so if he HAD left his lane, he would have been in the ditch much like the OP. The car hit him head on, and occupants of the car died. His truck was totaled, but he walked away unhurt. DOT performed a thorough investigation. Car was in the wrong lane....not the truck. Truck had nowhere to safely go...it was going to wreck whether it avoided the car or not. They plugged into the ECU and downloaded the information. He was not speeding, and had applied the brakes prior to impact. His log book was current and legal. The truck passed the post-crash inspection with flying colors...no defects were found (other than what was caused by the impact). Driver passed the post-crash drug screen. The driver of the truck did everything he was supposed to do, and received no citations.

He took a few weeks off while waiting for the insurance company to write him a check. He bought another truck, and he was right back at work. No lawsuits. No legal problems.

The only reason you'd have to worry about legal problems or being sued is if you were doing something wrong....falsified logs, truck falling apart, etc...basically if you had no business being on the road at the time of the wreck, you might find some of the blame pointing your way.

Call me cold and callous or whatever else you want to, but my #1 job is to get myself home safely and in one piece at the end of every run...and I'm going to take whatever course of action gives me the best possibility of accomplishing that goal. A head-on with a car that crossed into my lane is going to be less likely to cause injury to me than a rollover into the ditch. The knucklehead in the car isn't going to look after my family if I die while trying to save them from their own stupidity. Even if I manage to not die, they aren't going to pay my bills while I'm out of work recovering from my injuries.

Being a "hero" doesn't pay the bills...but it is a great way to get yourself hurt or dead.

 

I brake. Even when folks jump out from a driveway into the left turn lane and use it as an entrance ramp.

You need to have your vehicle under control at all times.

Not getting on OP just giving advice to others!

 

because of your actions, someone is alive today that might not have survived their own mistake.

 

wishing you a full and speedy recovery

 

Awfully hard to be critical of the decision you made. Yep technically the wreck is your fault now. You lost a perfect, driving record, you totaled a truck, you lost your job.

Do you honestly think that if you made a different choice and that driver hit you and perhaps was carrying a a couple small children in the backseat who all got killed that you could just say "well at least it wasn't my fault" and move on?

Recover quickly and have no regrets

 

wishing you a full and speedy recovery.

I have gone proactive and recently bought a windsheild mounted video cam. Just for inccidants like this.

 

thought i would stop in and see how you are doin??? hope recovery is going good.

 

One of the first lesson that was taught to me many years ago, "run the other sob off the road, don't let him run you off".